The necessity of stopping Putin & the consequences if we don't; 'Rubicon' crossed by Europeans to send trainers to Ukraine; Presidents Biden, Trump & Reagan at Normandy
George Will on the necessity of stopping Putin:
Yuval Noah Harari, X, on the consequences Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — and the opportunity for the world at the upcoming Summit on Peace in Ukraine in Switzerland.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine breaks the biggest taboo of the international order. Since 1945, no internationally recognized state was wiped off the map by external conquest. Russia is trying to do just that to Ukraine. Putin is following the imperial principle that any territory conquered by the Russian army is annexed by the Russian state. If Russia wins, no state and no border could feel secure, and the world will enter a new era of imperialist wars of conquest.
Phillips O’Brien, Prof. of Strategic Studies, University of St. Andrews on Macron’s announcement that a coalition of NATO countries have agreed with France to send military instructors to Ukraine:
A major strategic Rubicon is being crossed by European states, who understand now just what is at stake for all of their futures in Ukraine. It’s been amazingly fast. When it was first mentioned in February, people scoffed or cowered. Now it’s happening. And it’s only step 1.”
President Biden, 80th Anniversary of the D-Day Invasion:
The men who fought here became heroes not because they were the strongest or toughest or were fiercest — although they were — but because they were given an audacious mission knowing — every one of them knew the probability of dying was real, but they did it anyway. They knew, beyond any doubt, there are things that are worth fighting and dying for.
Freedom is worth it. Democracy is worth it. America is worth it. The world is worth it — then, now, and always.The war in Europe didn’t end for another 11 months. But here the tide turned in our favor. Here we proved the forces of liberty are stronger than the forces of conquest. Here we proved that the ideals of our democracy are stronger than any army or combination of armies in the entire world.
President Trump, 75th Anniversary of the D-Day Invasion:
More powerful than the strength of American arms was the strength of American hearts.
These men ran through the fires of hell moved by a force no weapon could destroy: the fierce patriotism of a free, proud, and sovereign people. They battled not for control and domination, but for liberty, democracy, and self-rule.
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The exceptional might came from a truly exceptional spirit. The abundance of courage came from an abundance of faith. The great deeds of an Army came from the great depths of their love.
The American sons and daughters who saw us to victory were no less extraordinary in peace. They built families. They built industries. They built a national culture that inspired the entire world. In the decades that followed, America defeated communism, secured civil rights, revolutionized science, launched a man to the moon, and then kept on pushing to new frontiers. And, today, America is stronger than ever before.
Seven decades ago, the warriors of D-Day fought a sinister enemy who spoke of a thousand-year empire. In defeating that evil, they left a legacy that will last not only for a thousand years, but for all time — for as long as the soul knows of duty and honor; for as long as freedom keeps its hold on the human heart.
Peter Baker, NYT: “Forty Years Later, Biden Seeks to Echo Reagan’s Legacy of American Leadership”
The aging American president facing a re-election campaign came to the Normandy coast of France to pay tribute to the daring Army Rangers who scaled the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc, offer a paean to democracy for which they sacrificed and perhaps even wrap himself a little bit in their reflected glory.
That was 1984, and the president was Ronald Reagan, who delivered an ode to heroism and patriotism that would become one of the most iconic moments of his presidency. Forty years later, another aging president facing re-election plans to return to the same spot Friday to honor the same heroes and effectively align himself with Mr. Reagan’s legacy of leadership against tyranny.
President Biden will not be the first president to try to walk in Mr. Reagan’s footsteps in Normandy, and it is a risky gamble. To many in both parties, Mr. Reagan’s speech remains the gold standard of presidential oratory and none have matched it at Normandy since. But like Mr. Reagan, Mr. Biden wants to use the inspiring story of the Rangers at Pointe du Hoc to make a case for American alliances in the face of Russian aggression — and, implicitly, for himself.
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Principles may be timeless, but politics are not. Mr. Biden was not always a fan of Mr. Reagan’s foreign policy. In a speech at Harvard in 1987 as a senator planning his first run for president, Mr. Biden lashed out at Mr. Reagan’s “military adventures” and said “the Reagan Doctrine is in tatters,” adding, “I’ve given up on this administration.”
But that was then, and this is now. Mr. Reagan is by many venerated, and Mr. Trump is on the ballot. For Mr. Biden, one certainly looks more palatable than the other. He has not given up on Mr. Reagan’s administration after all. Now he wants to harness it.